Wendy Hammond

As an agency of the Christian Reformed Church, World Renew is subject to Synod. The Synodical statement on climate change can be found here http://justice.crcna.org/creation-care-church-speaks

The peace and justice work includes widows rights, trauma healing, and more. https://worldrenew.net/peaceandjustice

I run two personal websites, both on WordPress, and I LOVE the functionality it provides without too much techie knowledge required. Especially with a premiuim theme (I'm partial to StudioPress).

Thinking back to when I was looking for a church, I did appreciate a card sent to me (or email nowadays I guess). I'm not big on gifts - maybe I'm too cheap but I would wonder why they are spending their money on chachkes.

I know that some of the members of Communities First Association are involved in setting up such programs. You could visit their website to see if any are near you: http://communitiesfirstassociation.org/members/

Hello Jeff,

Here is an article on the Network about this topic:

http://network.crcna.org/content/global-mission/serving-short-term-missions-coming-home

and a link to the book it recommends:

http://www.bread.org/help/church/activities-curriculum/mission-advocacy-guide/

Good luck - this is definitely an important topic!

I did want to point out that many of the special offerings on the "official" calendar are for agencies that do not receive ministry shares . . . such as CRWRC :-) We rely solely on offerings.

I know there's a list in the yearbook but not sure if it's online.

 The old book by Jay VanGroningen Changing Times, New Approaches talked about how to transition. Not sure if it's still available through Faith Alive as it looks like it's been replaced by The Deacon's Handbook.

I notice you're in Grand Rapids; you might check with Volunteers In Service to see if they have any resources that can help.

 Diaconal Ministries Canada has a helpful handout that includes guidelines for scheduling offerings.

 The Communities First Association consultants take an ABCD approach, which involves churches seeing what is already going on in their community, and what organizations are already working there, and networking together. Asset mapping is an important first step.

well, in the church I grew up in, I remember one Sunday the lights were turned off right before the sermon time. The chair of deacons made his way to the pupit and said, "We've been reviewing the budget, and if things to not improve, this is how we will be worshipping every Sunday because we won't be able to pay the electric bill." I think I was 10 years old at the time so I don't remember if things improved, but I'm guessing so because the lights were still on years later when I went off to college, and my parents still worship there today. Not in the dark.

:-)

I think transparency, and regular sermons on stewardship, are a bit more appropriate. Barnabas Foundation has a lot of excellent resources to help churches develop a culture of generosity: http://barnabasfoundation.com/churches/

I recently discovered  Kingdom Reel when a coworker was interviewed. They do a great job! https://www.kingdomreel.com/